Orico Thunderbolt 3 TB3-S1 Docking Station Review

I am always looking for a decent docking station. As much as it is very convenient when travelling to tech events, more so, I am always looking for the perfect answer to office convenience. Reaching behind the PC to find just the right port, or even plugging a device in the PC front when its cabling just isn’t long enough can be a real pain. Let’s take this one step further. I have four PCs in front of me, three monitors, and three sets of peripherals. There is nothing worse than switching off components. Orico has come up with the closest I have found to a perfect solution with their newest TB3-S1 Multifunctional Docking Station… Intel certified Thunderbolt 3.

The challenge is on for any other (and I have reviewed a few), but the TB3-S1 is probably the closest I have seen to perfect, at least for my needs. This docking station is of a fingerprint resistant flat grey aluminum alloy for great heat dissipation. On the back, we find the 24V power port that supports up to 120W total power, along with two Thunderbolt 3 ports. Check Amazon pricing now.

One is plainly labelled with a PC icon as the input port that connects to your PC for power delivery and charging connected components right from the dock, and the other is for daisy chaining up to 6 other devices. For example, when using the TB3-S1 and it is connected to your laptop via Type-C, there is no need for that additional power cord to your laptop as charging is done through this device.

On the front, we have an SD 4.0 card slot on the far left that allows SDXC card transfer rates up to 312MB/s, followed by an RJ-45 ethernet port, 5Gbps USB 3.1 port, two USB 3,2 10Gbps ports, a Type-C 10Gbps port and DP port that allows accommodates 8K video up to 60Hz.

This is how the TB3-S1 sits on my desk. SD cards are switched off several times a day as well as several TB3 devices to include external SSDs, smart phone and other peripherals. Perfect? Nope. But it is as close as I have found yet. If I were to offer a suggestion with respect to future revisions, include two DP ports and place them on the back with the RJ-45 port and USB 3.1/2 ports. These don’t normally get switched off. On the front, the SD slot, a TB-3, and leave the Type-C 10Gbps port. Better yet, let’s consider two PC TB3 ports on the back so this device, and all components connected, will default to one of two connected PCs when turned on.